Chinese bike-sharing firm Ofo raises $866 million led by Alibaba

Chinese bike-sharing firm Ofo has raised $866 million in fresh funding led by Alibaba Group Holding Ltd, in what the item said was the largest investment garnered in an individual round by a bike-sharing startup.

The latest fundraising comes as Ofo and also also also arch-rival Mobike, the biggest bike-sharing firms in China, have been expanding rapidly overseas as well as launching fresh services at home and also also also offering a greater variety of bicycles.

“Ofo has been transitioning through a phase of rapid growth to a stage of high-quality development,” founder and also also also CEO Dai Wei said in a statement.

Ofo did not disclose an updated valuation for the firm. Prior to a $700 million funding round in July 2017, Dai said Ofo was worth upwards of $2 billion.

In addition to Alibaba, an existing investor, Alibaba affiliate Ant Financial and also also also Chinese venture capital firms, Haofeng Group, Tianhe Capital and also also also Junli Capital participated inside round, the statement said.

Ofo’s previous investors include ride-hailing firm Didi Chuxing, which has integrated Ofo features into its own bike sharing platform.

the item said the item has roughly 0 million users globally and also also also is usually operating in 250 cities in 21 countries.

Mobike, which is usually backed by internet giant Tencent Holdings Ltd, said This specific year the item will launch its own car-sharing platform.